FOREIGN AFFAIRS - page 25

The North Korean government on Sunday ratcheted up tensions with the US by praising the Sony Entertainment hack, while threatening retaliation against any American response, despite denying responsibility for the act. But while Washington’s focus is on Kim Jong Un and the Korean Peninsula, news of a potential complication for US long-term strategy quietly broke last week elsewhere in the region. Behind the story–itself buried by idle chatter about Seth Rogen and James Franco’s otherwise forgettable film–are the rise of communists and opposition to the US… Keep Reading

According to an oversight report released Thursday, agencies tasked with empowering Afghan women are keeping woefully inadequate books. As a result, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said it’s “unclear how US efforts contributed to gains that have been made, and whether reported gains are sustainable over the long-term.” The Pentagon, the state department, and its development wing, USAID, have spent enormous amounts to support Afghan women and girls since the US invasion and occupation in late 2001. Between 2011 and 2013, USAID… Keep Reading

The US and Cuba took a significant step toward normalizing diplomatic relations, one day after the man who had become the face of semi-covert US efforts to destabilize Cuba resigned. “We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests,” President Obama said on Tuesday, announcing a series of actions his administration is taking to sunset Washington’s five-decades old Cuba isolation strategy. Those policies include the establishment of a US embassy in Havana, high-level exchanges between the two governments, and… Keep Reading

A Pentagon development office left its Afghan partners without crucial assistance on a pipeline construction project that’s only about 80 percent complete, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The watchdog noted in a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that only 12 out of 15 kilometers of corroding Soviet-era pipeline was replaced before the office wound up Afghan field operations in November. The Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) has left the remaining replacement of the Sheberghan-Mazar pipeline entirely… Keep Reading

Using a euphemism decried as misleading by public interest groups, Secretary of State John Kerry said this week that American diplomats routinely urge Middle Eastern governments to alter laws to placate multinational corporations and investors. At a “Middle East Commercial Center Leadership Dinner” at The US Chamber of Commerce, Kerry said Monday that the “elimination of non-tariff trade barriers” is one of many issues “that US officials raise constantly in conversations with our regional counterparts.” The term has featured heavily in the protracted negotiations over the Trans… Keep Reading

In authorizing military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday set the stage for a key War on Terror law to expire. An amendment paired with the resolution assembled by committee chair Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) would relinquish the post-9/11 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) in three years. “Those of use who were in Congress in 2001 never envisioned that authorization would still be utilized today the way it was utilized in thirty separate military operations,”… Keep Reading

Government agencies charged with rebuilding Afghanistan have put the mission at “unnecessarily high levels of risk,” and have left the country completely incapable of governing itself without international assistance, according to a new inspector general report released on Wednesday. Citing the absence of rule of law, a booming narcotics industry, and inadequate security forces, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) blamed the agencies for “widespread failure to anticipate problems and to implement prudent countermeasures.” The inspector general said that American policy may have… Keep Reading

The State Department could not say if the US is living up to its international legal obligations the day after an unclassified version of the Senate Intelligence Committee torture report was released to the public. Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Wednesday afternoon that she would have to consult with diplomatic legal consultants after reporters asked multiple questions on the issue. “We’re committed to complying with our international obligations,” Psaki said. When pressed by a reporter about the difference between commitment and compliance, she said that she “will check… Keep Reading

Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday said that the former Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden was to blame for the United States’ current war against the Islamic State. Kerry made the remarks at a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing in which he often clashed with fellow Democrats about statutory limits to ongoing operations ordered by President Obama. Most Democrats on the committee and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expressed concerns that the administration’s desire for “flexibility” in seeking authorization for the use of military force against… Keep Reading

Contradicting rosy statements made this week by the State Department, a Gallup poll released Friday showed that Afghanistan is wallowing in misery like few countries have this millennium. The research firm reported that 61 percent of Afghans consider themselves to be “suffering”–a number that is up from 23 percent in 2010, and the highest level of national misery measured by Gallup since it launched the poll in 2005. A worsening economy appeared to be a major factor behind the deterioration. The proportion of Afghans that… Keep Reading